Arab policy-makers have voiced concern about the alarming population boom in Gulf countries in recent years. But the ideal of a small family shows itself to be an entirely relative concept: In order to meet the challenge to improve services for citizens, we must have balanced population growth. However, when one mentions this subject in Saudi Arabia a barrage of criticism as well as verbal abuse is unleashed. Simple economics matter. A family of four or five has a better chance to have a high quality of life than does a family of nine. Thats right: a family of four or five can be seen as a small family in high fertility countries, even though its the kind of family that drives a doubling of population every couple of decades. As another example of the challenge of bringing very high fertilities all the way down to one or two per woman, this 2012 article in the NYT notes that for two decades, the Nigerian government has recommended that families limit themselves to four children, with little effect. Thats right. Four as a small family number that is rejected. nytimes/2012/04/15/world/africa/in-nigeria-a-preview-of-an-overcrowded-planet.html?pagewanted=all
Posted on: Mon, 12 May 2014 11:00:01 +0000
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